Deel & Rippling Spy Games

This week, Chad, Joel, and Emi sink their teeth into a juicy HR tech showdown: Rippling’s suing Deel, alleging an espionage plot. Rippling accused Deel of planting Irishman Keith O’Brien in its Dublin office, where he allegedly ran 6,000 Slack searches for trade secrets—busted by a fake “#d-defectors” Slack channel. Things escalated when O’Brien trashed his phone during a court-ordered seizure on March 19. Deel’s firing back, denying it all and pointing to Rippling’s own baggage, like alleged Russian sanctions violations. ZipRecruiter’s in the spotlight—named a Fast Company innovator, dropping a not-so-novel scheduling tool. Their Job Seeker Confidence Index is tanking, with 41% of seekers gloomy about jobs. Joel adds their podcast’s still a dud—and Zip’s stock’s is down around 20 percent this month. Klarna’s IPO filing steals some thunder, boasting $2.8B revenue and $21M profit for 2024, but their AI-driven headcount slash (down to 3,422 from 5,527) raises eyebrows. Finally, Nvidia’s GTC conference dazzles with GM’s self-driving deal, Yum Brands’ AI drive-thrus for 500 eateries, and a GR00T N1 humanoid robot. Is Nvidia still the gold standard? All signs point to Yes. From corporate espionage to AI tacos, it’s a wild ride this week on Chad & Chees. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 03:00 - Vegas Highlights 06:00 - Randy Rainbow and Political Satire 08:05 - Canada's Nuclear Option 13:49 - Espionage Story: Deal vs. Rippling 24:45 - The Deceit in HR Tech: Unraveling the Scandal 27:47 - The Russia Connection: Investigating Allegations 30:51 - Public Perception: The Impact of Shady Practices 32:00 - ZipRecruiter News: Innovation or Repackaging? 39:02 - Klarna's IPO: A Desperate Move? 44:58 - Nvidia's AI Revolution: Transforming Fast Food Ordering